Battlefleet Badger Hound

Thursday, June 11, 2015

Top of Turn 2 Summary

Battle has been joined!

The hive mind appears to have miscalculated the thread posed by the other forces on Pythos IV, dividing its forces to consume the biomass of the planet. In doing so, it has left its forces vulnerable to attack.

Sensing an opportunity for battle, the Ork warlord Fork has driven his mob into a forced march to catch half of the tyranid force unprepared.

Captain Morrelis, suspecting that the Tyranids would be tempted into pausing to feed has sprung his trap, using the recently captured power network to rapidly redeploy his army against the main body of the tyranid force thatthe main synapse creature of the tyranid swarm believed to be leading.

Meanwhile, the eldar have positioned themselves to strike at the Ork HQ unopposed and have seized an additional starport.

Player Income and Spend Orders

Faction

teamID

numberOfTerritories

totalIncome

Crimson Fists

2

4

90

Eldar

5

4

80

Orks

3

4

80

Tyranids

4

6

100

Crimson Fists spend 18 points on second in command wargear (needle pistol and servo skull) and 62 points to expand army 1

Tuesday, June 9, 2015

Discovery and Early History

Located by the Empire’s explorator
fleets relatively early during the great crusade, the Pythos system was located
near several major stable warp corridors and was deemed to be a suitable
location to establish a resupply base for the fleets of the great crusade.

The system’s fourth planet, Pythos IV was
found to have a habitable biosphere and was rapidly transformed into an
agriworld with facilities to resupply the Emperor’s forces with all the war
materials they would need to unify the galaxy. Pythos IV was discovered to be
an eldar maiden world about fifty years after colonization when forces from an
unknown craft world attacked imperial forces without warning. Fortunately for
the imperium, several ships of the XVIII legion were resupplying in orbit, the
embarked space marines rapidly deployed from orbit and drove off the xenos in a
short but brutal campaign.

Afterwards, Pythos IV was permanently
garrisoned by a small force of space marines of the IV legion to discourage
further eldar raids. The planet’s defenses were immediately strengthened with
the installation of several shield generators on the planet and the
construction of a formidable defense battery on Pythos IV’s moon. It’s security
thus ensured, Pythos IV continued to prosper throughout the rest of the great
crusade, its orbital docks becoming a major waypoint of the emerging Segmentium
Tempusts.

Loss during the Horus Heresy

All that changed during the Horus Heresy.
During the traitor’s advance on Terra, Horus dispatched forces to capture
several systems both to resupply his forces and to deny critical materials to
the Emperor’s forces. Securing Pythos IV and its large stockpiles of materials
fell to the Word Bearers. In his arrogance, Lorgar dispatched only a tolken
force, assuming that the Iron Warriors garrisoning the planet would follow
their primarch into forsaking the Emperor. The approaching fleet soon learned that
was not the case when several of its lead ships were obliterated by the
planet’s defenses. Over the course of several weeks, the Word Bearers were able
to destroy the orbital defense platforms ringing the planet at great cost, but
the surviving ships could not bring enough firepower to penetrate Pythos IV’s
shields.

Enraged by the defender’s defiance, Lorgar
withdrew his forces and summoned a warp storm of tremendous power to seal off
the system, declaring that if Horus could not control the Pythos system, no one
would. Thus Pythos IV faded from memory as the terrible events of the Horus Heresy ran their course.

Pythos IV is Rediscovered

The Pythos system was rediscovered in
M41.980 by the rogue trader Van Buran when his fleet found itself blown off
course by a warp squall. Emerging in the abandoned system, the rogue trader
encountered the wreckage of an ancient battle throughout the system. Pythos IV
appeared to be untouched, though no signs of inhabitants on the planed were
found. While the planet’s moon was found to be wrapped in an impenetrable
shield, landings were successfully made at the various starports on Pythos IV.
Planet side exploration found massive stockpiles of war supplies and other
advanced technology waiting to be claimed.

Van Buran likely would have kept his
discovery a secret to exploit for his own gain had misfortune not befallen. The
rogue trader’s fleet had been infiltrated by a brood of genestealers which had
quietly infected the crews of several ships.

The genestealers attempted to
seize control, which resulted in a pitched battle between those ships were not
taken over. Van Buran’s personal astropath was able to send a frantic distress
call before being torn apart by several tyranid monstrosities. In the end, all
of the ships were lost either to the guns of their former comrades or when their
plasma drives were overloaded. Some crew members managed to escape to Pythos
IV, but they were eventually hunted down by the genestealers that managed to
make planet fall.

Armies have made their first moves and the battle for Pythos IV is now on! Armies have made their first moves after planet fall and are headed towards the first battles.

The Crimson Fists, Orks and Tyranids all are jockeying for position near the hive city.

The Crimson Fists

Captain Morrelis has also largely avoided weakening his force, though he has dispatched battle brothers to secure the manufactorium and recently added power generator in his territory.

Da Orks

Fork has kept his boyz nearby (possibly because he doesn't trust them to fight right an proper without superviz'in)

Hive Fleet Megladon

The hive mind has divided its forces, sending half towards the hive city while a second tyranid swarm looks to threaten the Ork's recently captured power generator after a forced march. (Note that this army cannot force march for another two turns but may still move as normal)

The Eldar

Meanwhile, the Eldar appear to have split their forces to pursue their own mysterious objectives.
Below is the summary of army positions and income.

Monday, June 8, 2015

Per
your instructions, I have been monitoring communications related to the Pythos
system. I have intercepted several troubling reports of Xenos activity in and
around the Pythos system that I believe are of interest to you.

As
my lady are no doubt aware, the Pythos system was recently rediscovered by the
rogue trader Van Buran sometime within the last 60 standard years. My research
has uncovered that Pythos IV was a major naval way station used by the
emperor’s fleets during the great crusade prior to its disappearance during the
Horus Heresy. I believe there is a strong possibility that significant supplies
of advanced war materials are believed to still be present on or in orbit of
the planet, some of which you may use to your advantage

Intelligence
suggests that several Xenos races have also made planetfall on Pythos IV. I
have summarized the most significant information below:

Long
range auspex scans have detected elements from a Tyranid hive fleet, code named
Megalodon, diverting towards the Pythos system. Analysis of Van Buran’s last
transmission suggest that the rogue trader’s fleet may have been overcome by
genestealer infestation, which may account for the hive fleet’s actions. After
action reports from battles fought against this particular hive fleet indicates
that it favors infiltration and terror tactics when practical.

Imperial
Navy patrols across the segmentum tempestus appear to confirm early reports of increased Ork naval activity
from around the Octarius sub sector. Signal intercepts speak of twin greenskins
referred to as Fork and Spork having already made planetfall somewhere on
Pythos IV.

Finally,
we have received intelligence from another inquisitorial cell suggesting that
the Eldar may also be planning an incursion into the Pythos system.
Regrettably, our ally reports that their source of information expired before
any specific information related to the xenos’ plans could be extracted.

I
have forwarded my analysis of the orbital signum feed that you sent me. I have
been able to ascertain the locations of your and all hostile forces planet
side, but unfortunately I am not able to determine the size of each force due
to signal interference.

My
lady, I do not believe that a single strike cruiser bearing an under strength astartes
battle company will be sufficient to secure the Pythos system. I strongly urge
you to dispatch deathwatch assets or barring that a significant force of the
astra militarium in order to return Pythos IV to the emperor’s light.

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

Initial maps of Pythos IV are now up and labeled. Just a reminder that all players that won't be able to make it in person on Sunday will need to email me their top 3 starting hex choices on Pythos IV. Territories will be assigned in random order.

I've also updated the main campaign rules with images of each of the hex tile features. Check the shared drive for the latest file.